Every so often I, as most of you guys probably do, go through music phases. For the past month or so, which is a really long time for me, I have been stuck in a Timeflies phase. This extremely talented East Coast duo have raw musical talent, and I can go on and on about what sets them apart from everyone else. Their unique, refreshing sound is incomparable. The way they are able to cross genres and still produce an amazing sound is just pure genius. The more YouTube videos I watched on their channel, the more I was blown away.

From remaking The Little Mermaid’s “Under the Sea” to sampling Trey Songz’s hit “Say Ah,” Timeflies keeps fans on the lookout every Tuesday with their YouTube segment called Timeflies Tuesday. You can tell that they are enjoying their musical journey. I wanted to know more about these guys, so I decided that I had to interview them. Not only does it let you guys get to know Timeflies on a more personal level, hopefully after reading this you will join their rapidly growing fan base and give them your much deserved support. So without further ado, I present you with my interview with Timeflies, enjoy!

“We’ll start with an acoustic track that evolves into dubstep, or a club banger that goes soft”

Timeflies, a duo consisting of 22 year old singer/rapper, Cal, from Larchmont, New York, and 22 year old producer/DJ, Rob Resnick (AKA Rez), from Montclair, New Jersey (a town only 30 minutes from me!), say they “both grew up spending a lot of time in the city.” My first question was directed to their musical preference. They work with music genres such as hip-hop, rock, electro, pop, and dubstep. I asked them which genre they prefer to work with. They replied by saying, “Its kinda whatever sounds good and the mood we’re in at the time. We’ll start with an acoustic track that evolves into dubstep, or a club banger that goes soft haha.” They continued on, talking about how they record these different styles. “We do record acoustic instruments, but do a lot of work with synths so most of our stuff has elements of different styles, especially when adding Cal’s mix of rapping and singing.” Since Rez can play so many different instruments and Cal can rap and sing on almost any beat, it must make it easier, but still hard, to transition from one genre to the next.

Next, I wanted to ask Rez about his life with music. He has been playing instruments almost all of his life, I wanted to know if he always wanted to be a producer. Rez answered by saying, “My mom kept me in piano lessons from 2nd grade through highschool (till I decided guitar was cooler with the ladies… and now I play drums) and I always really liked composing more than practicing. We had music on in the house a lot and since my little league batting average was roughly zero, seemed like a good thing to get into.” He went on to say, “Also, especially recording and producing, music is pretty closely tied to technology and also math which I was a lot more into before college.” It seems like Rez was destined to have a job somewhere in the music industry!

I then had a question for Cal. It doesn’t matter if he is recording in the studio or rapping in front of large amounts of people, he always seems to be having a good time. I had to ask which side of music he prefers, the performing or the recording. Cal said, “I’m gonna have to go with performing, and its not close. Based on pure enjoyment, there’s no better feeling than standing in front of a crowd and having them sing the words you wrote.” I can only imagine how great that must feel! Cal then went on to describe what it is like recording in a studio, “I do love the studio. Its a completely different experience though, recording means sitting in a room throwing ideas back and forth, and then taking it to the point where you listen to it and its the same in the speakers as it was in your head. Thats a really proud feeling too.”

Rez and Cal both attended Tufts University. They also both were in a band called The Ride, a funk/ hip hop band that had Cal singing and Rez drumming. I asked them what made them team up from The Ride and become Timeflies.”The drummer and the singer, in a funk / hip hop type band especially, need to have a lot of chemistry because there’s a lot of opportunities to get the beat and lyrics to work together. After winning battle of the bands at Tufts, getting to open for Luda and Asher Roth, the band wanted to all do different things, the two of us more interested in electronic and lyric-centric music. We already partied together a lot and Rez had a sweet Pro Tools set up in his room, so we started making tracks before parties and stuff and bumping them a few hours later.” Much respect for winning Battle of the Bands and opening for Luda and Asher, that must have been crazy. And bumping your own tunes at parties must have been a cool experience, you got to start somewhere! On the subject off Tuffs, where they both studied music, I asked if they could see themselves having any other job. They responded saying, “Not a chance. Music is a big world, so there’s a lot of things we could see ourselves doing within the musical world, but we’re both fascinated by the creation and use of music in general.” I am glad Rez and Cal have dedicated themselves to the music industry!

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The name Timeflies came from how when Rez and Cal got together, they would make excuses for not getting things done fast enough. I asked if that was still the case. They replied saying, “We guess now it sort of means the opposite to us. It was about motivating us to not be lazy and finish stuff, now its about reminding us not to get too sucked up in all the stuff going on and get back to the music.” They definitely have their minds set on the music as they are about to release their first album title The Scotch Tape, which they recorded at Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts. When I asked them what it was like recording at such a chill spot, they said, “The Vineyard was a really relaxing place to get work done, with less distractions than we’re used to, especially after doing our earlier recordings at school. In the future we’ll probably do most recording in Brooklyn, and maybe you’ll hear some of that in our future projects.” It must have been awesome to escape from all of the distractions and focus on the music!

On the subject of The Scotch Tape, Timeflies released their first single earlier in the month titled “Stunner.” They recorded an acoustic version of the track just after they wrote it, which showcases their raw talent. I asked them what we can expect from their upcoming album. They told me, “Expect what you’ve hopefully come to from us… sick beats, clever lyrics, a blend of singing and rapping, and stuff you can relate to. We’re using the album to really get a diverse group of tracks out, some dancey, some more introspective, and we hope you can hear us maturing as artists.” They then added, “We’re mostly just hoping you don’t know what to call us afterwards, and that you can put it on when you’re out on Saturday night and then again when you’re hungover in bed Sunday morning.” Haha! I was having trouble categorizing you guys before the interview, now I am going to have no idea what to call you guys! All of this diversity left me wondering what a live show with Timeflies would be like. With music that everybody can relate to and enjoy, there must be a large variety of fans attend. “We like to keep it unique, so expect the unexpected… and to have a good time.” Next show they have in my area I will try my hardest to get tickets to. Who could refuse a good time?

I ended the interview with a quote. I asked if the quote “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life” rang true with Timeflies. They said, “Work is an unfair word when we think about jobs our friends have or think about what might have been if we hadn’t gone this route. Its obviously really fun flying around playing shows and doing videos and stuff, tiring yes, but awesome.” I think everyone would love a job with so many perks. They continued on, “But we could spend forever with a mic, computer, and some good speakers – we actually jokingly refer to the time right before finishing a track when we’re going crazy on little details and all as ‘creech mode’, and though we’ll often be watching tv or something one of us saying ‘lets go creech mode’ and the other saying ‘uhh.. how about at the next commercial break’ haha, once we’re working we can’t stop.” Creech mode sounds exhausting! It is obvious that Timeflies know when to have fun and when to get serious with the music. I am glad they are having a great time and enjoying the lives that they live!

That is all for the interview with Timeflies! Hope you learned a lot, I know I sure did! I strongly suggest you go check out their YouTube channel and watch all of their videos, they are addicting. Also be sure to check back in with Sunset every now and again, The Scotch Tape will be posted once it is released. I will leave you guys with an MP3 and a YouTube video, similar to what I did with the Logic interview. The song is “Stunner,” the first single off of the Scotch Tape and the video is my favorite video from Timeflies Tuesday, where Rez makes an insane beat in the car! At the end of the video you can see Cal freestyling over it at a live show. The show looks crazy!